Kittel grabs first Tour de France stage win, Greipel, Cavendish and Sagan held up

Chaos on opening stage of Tour de France with jammed team bus and big bunch pileup

Staying out of trouble in a chaotic final ten kilometres and avoiding a crash which delayed Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma Quick Step), Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and others, Marcel Kittel (Argos Shimano) sped to his first-ever Tour de France stage win plus the first yellow jersey of the race.

The German rider and his team played things perfectly after the chaos of the big fall, keeping the pace high to ensure he was in a good position, and helping him to blast home ahead of Katusha’s Alexander Kristoff and Danny Van Poppel (Vacansoleil DCM).

Already a winner in big races such as Scheldeprijs, the result is the biggest of Kittel’s career and fulfils the goal of a stage victory pinpointed by him at the start of the race.

One who went close was the Omega Pharma Quick Step rider Niki Terpstra, who jumped clear in the final kilometre but was overhauled before the line. Also losing out was Matt Goss (Orica GreenEdge), who had also made it into the select front group, but came down close to the line.

In doing so, he missed out on the chance to notch up his team’s first-ever Tour stage win.

The Australian squad was in the news for other reasons prior to the finish, though, as its team bus got jammed under the finish gantry and caused panic.

With the bunch bearing down fast, the organisers first moved the finish to the three kilometre to go point, but then returned it to the original position when the bus was successfully moved.

Amid the confusion, several key riders such as Cavendish and Sagan were delayed, with the accident appearing to be caused when Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol) went through a tight gap, clipped an Omega Pharma Quick Step rider, and caused the latter to fall.

Greipel’s run-in caused his derailleur to be ripped off, ending his chances of going for the stage. He had to wait for a new bike, while others such as Alberto Contador (Team Saxo Tinkoff) were also held up.

The moving finish line raised questions about whether or not they would benefit from the three kilometre rule, but it is understood that race organisers will indeed waive the time gaps.

“There was quite a lot of chaos. To be honest, until the last ten or fifteen kilometres, it was pretty controlled. The teams in front blocked the road after the breakaway was back in, and until then we were taking it easy. Once the road was free, everyone tried to get to the front,” a beaming Kittel said in the post-race TV interview, clearly happy with the outcome.

“The finish was really hectic, and we had to stay cool. The team did an awesome job to keep me out of trouble. In the end they did a fantastic job and so big thanks to them.”

Told about the bus jammed at the finish line, Kittel said that he wasn’t aware of it during the stage. That also meant that he didn’t know about the reported shift in position of the finish line. “I didn’t know,” he confirmed. “I hear it now for the first time. I think we were pretty lucky that they could tow the bus away. I am really happy that we finished a bit later.”

How it played out:

The opening stage of the Tour de France covered 212 kilometres from Porto Vecchio to Bastia and was almost completely flat. The sole climb came 45.5 kilometres after the start, with the fourth category Côte de Sotta set to determine the first mountains jersey of the race.

The stage also featured an intermediate sprint at San Giuliano, 62 kilometres from the finish.

Almost immediately after the drop of the flag, five riders clipped away and were allowed to go clear. The quintet were Jerome Cousin (Europcar), who started the move, plus Cyril Lemoine (Sojasun), Juan Antonio Flecha (Vacansoleil). Juan Jose Lobato (Euskaltel) and Lars Boom (Belkin), who was keen to show off the colours of the new team sponsor.

Belkin had stepped in just before the race, thus ending the time that the team was known simply as Team Blanco.

The gap grew to over three minutes but then dropped to just over two minutes after twenty kilometres of racing. However it soon went out to three minutes again as the five leaders raced towards that climb.

There, Flecha temporarily lost contact while the others disputed the sprint for the mountains jersey. Cousin sought to impede Lobato by swinging from the left to right side of the road, but the Euskaltel rider was able to nip through the gap and grabbed the points. It meant he had earned podium time at the end of the race, with the first polka dot jersey going to the team.

Behind, the Omega Pharma Quick Step and Lotto Belisol squads of sprinters Mark Cavendish and Andre Greipel were working to limit the break’s gains and thus keep their riders in the frame for a sprint showdown.

With approximately 150 kilometre to go the break’s advantage dropped under two minutes. While there was over three hours of racing left, the close monitoring of its lead made it highly likely the break would come back once the bunch decided to do so.

The leaders began to mess around, causing the break to stall. This in turn saw the gap drop under forty seconds. However the bunch realised it was too soon to bring the move back and took the foot off the gas, allowing the move to build up again and exceed three minutes for the first time.

Cousin nipped clear with just under 110 kilometres left and, at the 100 kilometre point, had three minutes 40 seconds on the peloton. The other four riders in the break were thirty seconds behind him, but soon got back on terms.

The messing around didn’t hinder the break too much; in fact, the flurry of activity ensured it opened a gap of three minutes 42 seconds. The fluctuations continued, though, and by the time the riders disputed the intermediate sprint, their advantage had ebbed to one minute 20 seconds.

There, Flecha tried to steal a march on the break and jumped from the back of the group with 500 metres to go. He flew past the other riders on the right hand side, tight to the curb, but despite the element of surprise a very impressive boom was able to get him back before the line, and then thunder past to take maximum points there.

Behind, the big sprinters fought it out for the minor placings. Greipel blasted past Cavendish and Sagan, who reacted too late to get him back and finished just behind him for seventh and eighth there.

Finale takes place amid chaotic circumstances:

After the sprint, the break continued on but had a gap of just 59 seconds with sixty kilometres left. Again, as before, the bunch eased off the gas and allowed the lead to go out again to almost two minutes. That sanguine approach didn’t last long, though, and once the sprinters’ teams decided enough was enough, they ramped up the pace and reeled the break in with 37 kilometres to go.

A number of teams moved to the front, with Alberto Contador’s Saxo Tinkoff being very prominent and riding hard to keep him out of trouble. With just over twenty kilometres left the Omega Pharma Quick Step and Lotto Belisol squads then took over, trying to set up their fastmen for the gallop.

However at the finish, things were looking bleak for a bunch sprint. News came through that the Orica GreenEdge bus had crashed into the finishing gantry, jamming there. Understandably, with the bunch hurtling towards that point, it caused panic at the finish line, with race officials realising that the riders could be endangered.

Meanwhile things were getting risky out the road. Dutch champion Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil DCM) hit some fencing and went down, being delayed. Then with 12.2 kilometre to go, a dozen or so riders hit the deck. Ryder Hesjedal was one of those and while he remounted quickly, he faced a very rapid chase to get back up to the bunch.

Soon afterwards, word came through that the jammed bus has forced the organisers to move the finish line to the three kilometre to go point. Kittel said afterwards that he wasn’t aware of this; it was unclear if the other sprinters had been told.

However that point became less vital soon afterwards, with the team coach finally being freed and the Tour organisers ruling that the original line would be used.

As the bunch hurtled towards the finish, a crash in the bunch took a number of riders down. Appearing to be caused by a rub of shoulders between Greipel and an Omega Pharma Quick Step rider, the German rider was delayed when his derailleur was ripped off.

Also delayed were Cavendish and Sagan, with both losing out on the chance to take the first yellow jersey in the race.

The Argos Shimano team took over at the front and ramped up the speed, trying to set up their sprinters Marcel Kittel and John Degenkolb. Matt Goss (Orica GreenEdge) was also there and fighting for position, hoping to take his team’s first-ever Tour de France stage win.

With the finish fast approaching, Niki Terpsra (Omega Pharma Quick Step) jumped clear and got a gap of several seconds. However he was swamped with 400 metres to go and in the dash for the line, Marcel Kittel blasted in first. He beat Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) and Danny Van Poppel (Vacansoleil DCM) to the line, nabbing his first-ever stage win in the race and also the yellow jersey.

Goss came down in the final corner and missed out, while many other riders trailed in much further back as a result of the big crash.